Am I eligible for unemployment benefits ?

I have been working for the same company for almost 3 years, as a full - time employee.
In January '09 they put all employees on part-time, except tor the managers. This week
I was notified that I will now be on-call, and expect to come in at a moments notice, also
that this may be once a week or once a month.
I am a very diligent & reliable employee, and have been looking for another job since January. This on-call situation is difficult because my husband and I share one car and the
bus service in our area is very limited.
I asked the general manager if he would just lay me off so I could receive unemployment
to help pay the bills that are piling up and continue my efforts to find a new job, he said,
"The company does not want to lay people off, then they would have to pay our unemployment benefits".
Can I apply for unemployment benefits in my situation ? Thank you